Retiring types Shane, Seabass give their thoughts on Al Davis, playing golf and more

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Oakland Raiders’ Sebastian Janikowski connects as he kicks his first of five field goals for the Raiders as Shane Lechler (9) holds the ball when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. The Raiders won 15-0. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Staff)

What Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski had to say about the following topics:

Al Davis

“Al knew a lot about you, more than you realized. He asked for an opinion once about something in Napa, I said what I thought he wanted to hear, and he saw right through me. He said, `Shane, do me a favor and never tell me what you think I want to hear. Your dad was a high school coach for 24 years. You’ve been in this game. Have an opinion and stick to it,’ ” — Shane Lechler

“He knew everything about everybody. For awhile he watched from his golf cart. When he couldn’t get out any more, he was getting tape and watching everybody. And he knew every player, what he did, and what he did wrong, what he did right. It was crazy. He was awesome, the greatest guy ever. He took a chance on me,” — Sebastian Janikowski

Golf

“At first I used to dread going to play golf with Seabass. It’d be a six-hour round of him trying to find his golf ball. I had played since high school and he’d just picked it up in his rookie year. But he got a lot better. I talked to him the other day and he shot a 78,” — Shane Lechler

“I didn’t start off like Shane. He was a good golfer and I had to catch up to him, and I was always asking for strokes. I think I would ask him for 10 strokes. But now when we’re playing it’s pretty even. It seems like it always goes to the 18th hole,” — Sebastian Janikowski

Friendship

“I can honestly say I don’t think there’s ever been a cross or angry word exchanged between us . . . I promise you if I ever needed anything in a tough situation, he’d be my first phone call,” — Shane Lechler on Sebastian Janikowski

“We never cussed or got mad at each other. One time in Kansas City, I lined up for a game-winner, a 36-yarder. It was real cold and raining. (Jon) Condo snapped it, Shane put it down, and the ball wasn’t leaning and it was sliding on the grass. It went through. He was like, `How the (bleep) did you make that? I was like, `I don’t know dude.’ That was the only time,” — Sebastian Janikowski on Shane Lechler.

Legacy and being a part of the Raiders

“Growing up in Poland, my dad was a soccer player and people would wear his jersey and I always dreamed that fans would wear my jersey. It was touching. Every stadium I went to, even if it was an away game, if I saw you wearing my jersey in the parking lot, I was taking your picture,” — Sebastian Janikowski.

“Things are more familiar there now that Jon Gruden is back, Tom Cable is back . . . I can say it was one of the great times of my life. Just the other day I was laying around the house, and I decided to put my Raiders sweats back on, just to see how it feels one more time,” — Shane Lechler

Leaving the Raiders

“I’ll be straight-up honest. the way it ended kind of left a bitter taste in my mouth. I saw the writing on the wall, with (Marquette) being there (on injured reserve). I hit free agency, and Dennis Allen, who was a college teammate of mine, never talked to me even one time.” — Shane Lechler on signing with Houston

“For the experience, I’m glad I did it, but I wasn’t ever 100 percent. My back is hurting, it has been for a couple of years. I got hit in Kansas City, landed on it wrong and everything just went downhill,” — Sebastian Janikowski on signing with Seattle.

A word from the coach

“I remember Janikowski going into training camp, and everybody kept waiting for the 80-yard field goals and all that stuff. He got off to a slow start, but had an unbelievable career,’ “ — Jon Gruden on Sebastian Janikowski

“Earlier in his career, Shane just tried to torment me. Instead of kicking the ball out of bounds, he’d kick into the 27th row of the black hole to protect his average. But he was an immediate game-changer. He changed field position and had some spectacular punts,” — Jon Gruden on Shane Lechler

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